Innocent Evenings of Drinking
by Evita the Akita
Summary: The various ups and downs of the lives of Xavier and Lensherr before they were X and Magneto. First Class based oneshot collection. Will contain drinking, swearing, angst, mentions of violence, and varying degrees of slash.
1. Thinking in Tongues

_**Innocent Evenings of Drinking**_

_**NOTES: **And so my affiliation with the _X-Men_ fandom begins. This will be a collection of oneshots concerning Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr. Some will be slashy, some will be able to be taken as slash or friendship, and some will simply be romance-irrelevant. Until I see the rest of the movies, these will be entirely based on _First Class_ and I won't even try dealing with these boys when they're older because I might hurt the canon. Ratings will vary with content. And remember, reviews are like crack - they don't cost a lot and they're ridiculously addicting. Please fuel my habit. XD Honestly, though, positive reviews make me write more and constructively negative reviews make me fix what I have and then write more. So you get to read more. Win-win. :D_

_p.s. The overall title is a paraphrase of Declan Bennett's album title An Innocent Evening of Drinking. Listen to his music; he is brilliant._

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><p><strong>NOTES:<strong> Expect a lot of chessfics to crop up here. : ) Also, I had to make some reference to the fact that Erik seemed to speak every language known to Europe.

**RATING:** K+ for brief language

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><p><strong>Thinking in Tongues<strong>

_Damn you…_

Erik's eyes shot up from the board as Charles accidentally projected that thought into his head.

"I believe mind-reading counts as cheating, Charles."

"Yes, well, you've been thinking in Polish this whole time, so it's not helping me anyhow…" Charles mumbled as he lay on his stomach, propped up on his elbows and leaning his chin into his hands, furrowing his brow at the board.

"I won't hold it against you," replied Erik, who was similarly lounging on the floor, leaning on one elbow. "Had I been you, I would have tried it out a long time ago."

After staring for a very long minute at his disappointingly small amount of potential moves, Charles glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "Do you always think in Polish?"

Erik laughed softly. "No." His eyes silently followed Charles' hand as it moved a pawn up the board. "I could just tell you were cheating from the start, that's all."

Charles' eyes shot up to meet Erik's smirk. "What?"

"Charles, you have no idea how conspicuous it is every time you start fondling your temple like that." Still smirking, he made his move as Charles turned slightly red.

"I'm not–"

"Check, by the way."

"One moment–"

"Checkmate, actually."

"_One moment_…I'm not that conspicuous."

"Just enough so that I don't have to look very hard," Erik said as he flicked over Charles' king. "Step up your defense," he added, his smirk melding into a genuine smile as he saw the frustration in Charles' face. Their eyes met and Charles smiled to match.

"Oh, piss off…" Charles muttered, bouncing the king off of Erik's chest and standing, picking up his martini glass. "Another?"

Erik gave a little mocking gasp and held out his glass. "You must have read my mind."

"_Piss off_…" Charles repeated, this time unable to keep himself from laughing.


	2. 37mm

**NOTES: **I'm utterly astounded at the response I got for Thinking in Tongues...I've never had that big a response that quickly (24 reviews and counting I mean Jesus) and I want to wholeheartedly thank you all. : ) That being said, this is a little (a lot) different from the last chapter. Whereas the last one was a witty sort of fluff, this would be a genre I like to call fluffangst. One word. You'll get it. If fluffangst isn't your fare, worry not, for I have more fluff headed your way soon after this little reminder that their relationship isn't all chess and cocktails. (Title and quote from 37mm by AFI.)

**RATING: **K+ for angst

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><p><strong>37mm<strong>

_Press me to your lips / and I'll suck the poison out_

Every time Erik smiles, Charles smiles a little larger, because he feels like he has achieved something good. It shouldn't be his responsibility to keep Erik happy. He knows that. He knows that the burden of another person's happiness is too much for anyone to bear, but somehow he doesn't care. He wants to carry that burden until it disappears.

He'd never put the same burden on Erik. He can't bring himself to let his fears out to such a tortured soul, though he trusts him with his life. So he buries those fears and opens his heart and the habit grows into routine: Erik asks him what's the matter and he answers with a smile and a "nothing" and moves on to Erik's own worries, because he's decided that when Erik is happy, he is as well.


	3. The Gap Between Us

**NOTES: **So what I was saying about chess and cocktails...this fic has an abundance of both. XD I saw the movie again a few days ago; so much love for it and (most) everyone in it and also for YOU, yes, YOU, faithful readers, for reviewing and favoriting and alerting and being oh so patient when I haven't been updating with the frequency I'd prefer. I love you all and reward you with drunk!Charles and an Erik that can only be described by this face: -_- (Title and quote from I Know Him So Well [appropriately] from the musical _Chess_.)

**RATING:** T for drinking and mild slash

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><p><strong>The Gap Between Us<strong>

_Looking back, I could've played it differently / won a few more moments – who can tell?_

Erik wasn't quite sure how this chess game had come to encompass a drinking game as well, but he was sure that he was winning both. Somehow, about an hour ago, they'd started the practice of each man taking a drink every time his opponent captured a piece. Erik took the first few victories and, seeing as Charles' skill in chess seemed to deteriorate with every drink, Erik continued to gain pieces in a sort of alcohol-fueled snowball effect.

By this time, Erik was barely tipsy and Charles didn't seem to have a very solid grasp on which piece was which anymore. As one of Charles' pawns moved halfway up the board and landed in between two squares, Erik decided it was time to put the game (and his opponent) away for the night.

"Oi…" Charles whined as Erik cleared the remaining pieces into a pile next to the board. "What're y'doing?"

"Not taking advantage of your current state…" Erik stood up to clear away their glasses.

Charles groaned and folded his arms on the board, laying his head down and grinning dazedly up at Erik, who only laughed his quiet laugh as he walked over to deposit the glasses on top of a white cabinet. As Erik turned back, he saw that Charles' eyes were fixed unsteadily on his face.

"C'mere…" Charles mumbled, still staring and reaching out a hand from where he was still half-lying on the table.

"What?" Erik asked, standing over him.

"C'mere," Charles repeated, waving him down. Erik crouched down and Charles' fingers reached out and held up a lock of his hair. Charles continued to stare foggily, studying Erik's hair as well as he could manage. "S'red in the light…" he concluded as he gently turned Erik's head to different angles to better catch the lamplight. "It's…it's really lovely…"

Erik couldn't help smiling a little at the warm, unsteady hand that had come to rest on the back of his neck. "Charles, if you even begin to say the word 'groovy,' I'm never letting you near any kind of alcohol ever again." They both laughed, Charles' laugh high and drunken and Erik's soft and wry. Still laughing and letting his eyes drift shut, Charles wove his fingers tighter into Erik's hair and tried to pull him closer. "No, you don't," Erik interjected, standing before Charles could go anywhere with that particular action.

"Hey, hey, hey, what're you doing now?" Charles gave a confused smile, his hand falling from Erik's neck to his wrist.

"Same as before," Erik murmured, using Charles' grip on his arm to pull him to his wavering feet. "You're going to bed now," he decided as Charles forcefully leaned against his side, his head rolling back onto his shoulder as he was led out of the room.

Rolling his eyes, Charles mumbled, "You're even more'f an old fart than I am…"

"Spending as much time with you as I do merits that sometimes, Charles." Charles only offered up a rather loud raspberry in response. "That's lovely…" Erik whispered sardonically as he steered Charles down the hall, dreading the prospect of excusing his chess opponent's behavior to any passing CIA agents.


	4. Like a Shadow

**NOTES: **I HAVE RETURNED. With some awkward mutants, grumpy teenagers, and the rules one has to impose when those things are mixed with a regulation size swimming pool. I did promise a sequel chapter to The Gap Between Us, but that sequel chapter is currently refusing to be written. I'll achieve that one eventually. I apologize for keeping you all waiting; I've had terrible writer's block all summer. Also, actual pool!fics should happen soon...

(Title and quote from Fade Like a Shadow by KT Tunstall).

**IN OTHER NEWS: **If you want to put a face and voice to the insanity, find me on Youtube (JonesIantoJones), or check me out on Tumblr just for fun (SnaffleBit Humptywink).

**RATING: **K+ for bratty teenagers

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><p><strong>Like a Shadow<strong>

_Thinking about it every day / and starting to notice you're fading away_

"Alright, rules: no using your mutations in the swimming pool or surrounding areas," Charles began, "unless, of course, you truly can't help it," he added with quick glances to Hank and Darwin, "in which case, it's not a problem. What this basically boils down to is: don't do anything stupid or destructive because Erik, Moira, and I will subsequently get the blame for leaving you unsupervised for too long."

A quick glance showed him that the majority of his audience was blankly staring at him in exasperation. Only Hank was actively nodding in agreement.

"Which brings me to the second rule, which is that none of you may use the swimming pool unless one of us three is in the room to supervise you."

The girls rolled their eyes, the boys (save Hank) groaned, and Erik glanced at Charles with a very incredulous-looking raised eyebrow.

Charles ignored each of these reactions and asked, smiling authoritatively, "Any questions?"

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><p>"That went about as well as it could have," Charles mused to Erik as they walked down the hallway after leaving the teens with Moira in the poolroom.<p>

Erik's eyebrow was still at its questioning height. "Charles, you never–"

"What is _wrong_ with you?" a voice interrupted from behind them.

Charles sighed. "One moment, Erik." He turned around to face an irritated, bathing-suited Raven as Erik retreated from the siblings to lean against the wall. "Yes, dear?"

"You are such an old fart…"

"What is it this time?"

"I finally make some friends and all you can do is treat us like we're five years old–"

"Love, you shattered one of the lounge windows and nearly set the lawn on fire."

Raven scowled. "That wasn't me!"

"I say 'you' in the collective sense; obviously, not all of you had a hand in it, but neither did any of you have a hand in trying to stop it," Charles retorted calmly. "Therefore, I'm holding each of you responsible and have gotten the message that _we_ need to be more responsible for all of _you_."

Still scowling, Raven rolled her eyes and stomped back up the hallway.

"Well, that went about as well as it could have," Charles repeated, shaking his head and chuckling. "That's Raven for you." After a brief glance in Raven's direction, Erik silently left the spot he'd taken against the wall to rejoin Charles. As they continued down the hallway, Charles muttered, "I really don't know what's wrong with her lately…"

"I do."

Charles turned to look at Erik, his furrowed brow conveying an unspoken question.

"She's ashamed," Erik continued, frowning back at Charles as if to tell him that this answer was too obvious not to have noticed before. "And hopefully, if she spends enough time with others like her, no matter how out of control they are, she'll start realizing she doesn't have to be." Charles nodded contemplatively, staring ahead but looking at nothing. A few steps passed in silence before Erik spoke again. "Speaking of the…out of control others–"

Charles laughed, still staring forward. "Don't worry, I'll never leave you alone in there with them."

Erik laughed quietly. "Stay out of my head."

"I wasn't in your head. Fairly obvious guess."

Half-smiling, Erik added, "If you paid as much attention to your sister's behavior as you do mine, you might actually begin to understand her."

The smile disappeared from Charles' face. His brow furrowing again, he glanced over at Erik. Erik didn't look back, and they continued their walk in silence.


End file.
